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News Article

IEDs, Indirect Fire Kill Four Soldiers in Separate Incidents

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2005  Improvised explosive devices killed two soldiers In Iraq, and two other soldiers were killed by indirect fire in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, military officials in Baghdad reported today.

A Task Force Liberty soldier was killed today when an improvised explosive device detonated near a vehicle patrol near Dwar in Salah Ad Din province. A 1st Corps Support Command soldier was killed June 7 when an IED detonated during a combat logistics patrol north of Baghdad. The same day, two 42nd Infantry Division soldiers were killed during an indirect-fire attack on a coalition forces base in Tikrit.

The names of all of the deceased are being withheld, pending notification of their families.

One operation - involving troops from 1st Brigade, 3rd Iraqi Army Division, and the U.S. Army's 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment - is one of the more than 30 combined or independent Iraqi operations being conducted throughout Iraq, officials said.

Major clashes occurred in the area of Tal Afar, where Iraqi and coalition forces were successful in security operations. Throughout the operation, which began May 26th, nine weapons caches have been found and cleared, and 73 known or suspected terrorists have been detained.

In east Baghdad on June 6, Task Force Baghdad soldiers captured seven terror suspects, including a man specifically targeted for terrorist activities, and seized weapons and bomb-making materials in a series of combat operations. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment's 2nd Brigade Combat Team took down the targeted suspect during a raid carried out at in Baghdad's Jadida neighborhood.

Less than two hours later, soldiers from the same unit captured three more terror suspects in another operation in the same neighborhood. The soldiers caught the suspects with weapons and bomb-making materials. Later, 1st battalion soldiers arrested another terror suspect in the Amin district of east Baghdad. The suspect was caught with AK-47 assault rifle magazines and ammunition.

A terrorist later fired on battalion soldiers in Amin. The soldiers quickly set up a cordon around the location the shots came from and caught a suspect running from a house. Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, discovered a stockpile of materials used to make explosives at a factory in northern Zafaraniya on June 5. The stockpile consisted of more than 1,000 sub-munitions and 56,000 fuses.

It was discovered after the owner of the factory met with a coalition forces government support team, and told them that he wanted to open his factory but needed a pile of explosives removed from it first.

Coalition forces sent a patrol to the factory to determine the type of explosives on site. The factory owner, who preferred not to be named, thanked the coalition forces and said there is an overwhelming feeling among the Iraqi people that things are getting better, officials said.